American figure skater Ilia Malinin has been doing gymnastics off the ice much of his life, one of the many reasons he can so effortlessly land the dazzling quadruple jumps that made him a world champion at just 19 years old last March.
It is also why Malinin has been able to so seamlessly incorporate the backflip into his program.
Once banned in competition for its inherent danger, the backflip and all other "somersault type jumps" were removed from the restricted list by the International Skating Union after last season. And almost immediately, they began to pop up in lower-level competitions, including the Lombardia Trophy last month, when Malinin landed one on the way to victory.
But what about more important competitions, such as Skate America, which opens the Grand Prix season Friday night in Allen, Texas? Or the world championships in March in Boston, the last one before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy?
"I'm definitely planning to keep it," said Malinin, the first skater ever to land the 4 1/2-revolution quad axel in competition. "I'm thinking of ways to really level it up as well in the future, like adding a twist or some crazy other combination."
At the Lombardia Trophy, Malinin landed the backflip late in his free skate, set to I'm Not a Vampire by Falling in Reverse. He also landed five quads over two clean programs to outdistance Japanese rivals Yuma Kagiyama and Shun Sato.
"I've been doing it off-ice for four or five years now," explained Malinin, who took the backflip to the ice at first by using support ropes to help guide his landing. "I was doing gymnastics and it started to become muscle memory."
Many skaters, including reigning Olympic champion Nathan Chen of the U.S., have been doing backflips in
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